Catherine Keener and Emily Mortimer are the neurotic daughters inevitably produced bytheir neurotic mother Brenda Blethyn. Keener is trying (unsuccessfully) to sell her art (tiny chairsmade of twigs). Mortimer is a desperately insecure actor. Blethyn is about to undergo liposuction,which isn’t going to help with the body image of her young, African-American adopted daughter.All the men these women are involved with are jerks, but Keener’s life takes an unexpected turnwhen, …t her new one-hour-photo job, sparks fly between her and young Jake Gyllenhaal. This isa film with very brave performances, and Mortimer has one scene in particular that is guaranteedto make you squirm with sympathetic humiliation.

Audio

A dialogue driven movie, so surround effects take a back seat. There are some nice ones,though (waves crashing on the shore are a notable example). The dialogue is problem free, andthe low key music sounds very nice too. A soundtrack that is sensitive to the needs of thefilm.

Video

I’m not as wild about the picture. Generally speaking, the transfer is strong, with goodcolours, blacks, contrasts and flesh tones. The image (in 16×9 anamorphic widescreen) is sharp,at least most of the time. There are a few soft shots, and there is some edge enchancement visibleas well.

Special Features

Not much by way of extras. Apart from the trailer, all you have are four brief collections ofinterviews (“Getting it Going,” “Playing the Part,” Making it Work” and “Enjoying Each Other”).Each segment is very short, and they were clearly done together, but there is no “play all” option.The menu’s main page, intro and transitions are animated and scored.

Closing Thoughts

A commentary for such an intimate film would have been very interesting, but I guess wecan’t have everything. See it for the performances.